Currently mechanisms which bind various well control lines to drill strings fall short of effectively coupling components which are used in drilling and production of oil, gas, and other minerals. Components which supply communication to various portions of BOPs, well heads, subsea production trees, and associated members often do so through communication lines which supply fluid, pressure, electronic communication, and allow for physical manipulation of the BOP, well head, subsea production tree and associated tools. Unfortunately, communication lines inadequately couple to components which are run subsea. When communication lines are inadequately coupled to the riser string, the various components are at risk of being damaged and are rendered inoperable.
In an underwater drilling rig riser, multiple lines are integrated in the rig riser. These include multiplexed (MUX) hydraulic lines, choke lines, boost lines, an Installation/Workover Control Systems (IWOCS) line, and other umbilical lines. In conventional installations, the failure of a riser or its release from the subsea installation due to tripping of a blowout preventer cuts these various lines as they are integrated in the riser. The present invention presents an improved riser clamp to securely hold the various lines in place typically as a retrofit as well as allowing for the selective release of the all important IWOCS line away from the riser for easy replacement or continued control of the subsurface wellhead assembly.
Presently numerous coupling mechanisms fail to appropriately couple communication lines and allow for interference from physical damage, and sometimes even sea life in subsea applications. In certain instances, movement of communication lines and drill string through subsea currents are believed to attract aquatic life, and from time to time have been retrieved with bite marks.
Sometimes, communication lines are attached to various segments of a riser. When a riser and various pipes are lowered and raised from drilling and/or work-over rigs a coupling mechanism is mounted to riser joints at inappropriate locations which causes extra pauses during the runs to attached said lines and therefore increasing the deployment times dramatically. Then, a communication line is subsequently coupled to the coupling mechanism. This is somewhat problematic, due to rig day-rate costs and auxiliary services employed in drilling and servicing oil wells.
Floatation (Buoyancy) is fitted to the riser in deepwater drilling to reduce the overall weight of the riser string and allow deployment of such in a reasonable manner. In some cases “cutouts” or cavities are provided in the floatation to allow for the mounting of the control cable clamps at an appropriate location so that the cables/hoses can be attached in conjunction with the addition of the next joint of riser, but this is not always the case. Where the floatation is not supplied with this feature the clamps have to be fitted either above or below the floatation which adds an extra stopping point for each joint during the run, thus adding an inordinate amount of time to the riser run. The design of this clamp allows the positioning of the clamp along the full length of the joint without the need of a cutout or a cavity. This allows the positioning of the clamp to be coordinated with the landing point of each joint so that the cables/hoses can be attached simultaneously with the adding of the next joint of riser thus greatly reducing the run time of the riser.